Expedia refusing refund on hotel they cancelled

newm20

Hi,

Would love to get some advice on this situation if possible.

Last weekend my girlfriend and I travelled to Stockholm. We had booked the trip prior to the pandemic and as we were unable to get a refund on either the hotel or flight we decided to go ahead with the trip. Once we arrived in Stockholm we went to the hotel only to find it closed, with a sign on the door stating that due to COVID-19 the hotel was closed for service until 31st July. We check the Expedia app only to find a message stating that our booking had been cancelled and a refund was on it's way. We were obviously pretty annoyed to have had our booking cancelled without any kind of notification from Expedia or the hotel but managed to find somewhere else to stay and thought at least we would get the refund.

Since arriving back from the trip we've still not had any refund (a week later) so decided to get in touch with Expedia. They are now stating that they are unable to provide a refund and will only provide a voucher to be used at the same hotel within 1 year. Am I right in thinking that in this situation where we have booked a hotel for a specific date, that if the hotel are unable to provide the service on that date then they are legally obliged to provide us with a refund? A voucher is obviously completely useless given that we've already done the trip to Stockholm.

Westin

I would think you have a good case for a refund.  Perhaps Expedia could not reach the hotel and so the credit offer was just an automatic one. Did you take a picture of the hotel closure notice - perhaps send on to Expedia.

If they continue to stick to the line of refusing a refund then I would approach your credit card provider for assistance.

newm20

Thanks. Yes, we took a photo of the sign on the door. We went through two lines of online support today with Expedia who kept pushing the line that their terms and conditions state the booking is non-refundable. Whilst this is true, it only applies if we were to cancel the booking which was not the case here. I believe the booking was done on an Amex who are generally pretty good with this kind of thing so I might call them.

bagand96

Speak to the credit card and do a chargeback or Section 75. You have the evidence that what you paid for was not available. 

Was your replacement accomodation more expensive than the original hotel booking? If it was then claim for the cost of that. 

newm20

Yes, our other accommodation was more expensive. Thanks for the advice.

bagand96

newm20 said:

Yes, our other accommodation was more expensive. Thanks for the advice.

As long as you paid with a credit card then under Section 75 your card provider is jointly liable for the transaction.

Given that Expedia failed to provide what you paid for then I would claim the cost of the replacement accomodation - you were in Stockholm so needed accomodation, a refund isn't entirely appropriate. 

You could try and claim that cost from Expedia, but given they won't give you a refund when they should I doubt they'll be forthcoming.

Just make it clear you want a Section 75 claim and not just a chargeback. 

eskbanker

Section 75 may not be applicable, depending on the nature of the booking arrangements, i.e. if Expedia counts as a fourth party over and above the debtor (OP), creditor (Amex) and supplier (hotel).

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/#accordion-content-050641970-1

Was it structured as a package?